Report on KGA Shop Tour in email from Master Smith Ray Kirk:

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Been a little late getting things sent out and the pics downloaded to photo bucket. The link above it to the pictures taken at the shop tour. Rick Weaver, Mike Underwood, and Raymon Hunt supplied the pictures and Ramon Hunt did the video. There are more videos but I goofed up and didn’t get them all downloaded on the bucket web site.

We had between 80 and 90 people show up. There was 80 some that signed in and I know of a few that didn’t sign.

The weather was wonderful. It had rained a little earlier that morning and was enough to cool things off for the demo’s .

I started off with the forging while it was still cool, I think it was cool. I was able to do the knife steps from forging to putting the handle on.

Just before lunch, Harry Fentress did a demo of forging nails with a bit of hands on by Calvin Harkins Grandson. I forgot his name but this is his second trip here and he did a good job on the nail.

For lunch we had a Cherokee Hog Fry. Tony Hadley did the cooking of the pork and potatoes. He used his cast iron pot with oil and water to cook the meat. It was delicious and was a first time for several of the attendees.

Along with all the side dishes, there was plenty to go around and every one had a great time. The tail gate sales were plentiful and it looked like they were busy.

During lunch, Tommy Wildcat had accepted my invitation to play his flute for us. Tommy has several CD’s out and works at the Cherokee Village year round. The Village is located in Park Hill, OK, just south of Tahlequah.

After lunch we had the drawing of the tickets for the Iron In the Hat. Thanks to all who donated items for this as this is the main way we fund our activities. There was a bit more than enough to pay for all the food and toilets. Total was $356.00.

Newt Livesay did a Kydex demo after the drawing. Newt showed how he molds the Kydex and what to use for a press. I wish I had gotten to watch it more.

Gary Crowder did the last demo and that was file work. He had examples of his work and showed the equipment he uses to complete the file work. He also showed a few of his techniques for making the file marks consistent.

I want to thank all those who attended and a big thank you to the demonstrators.

We would like to have a “Company Picnic” this summer at one of the lakes some where close to between OKC and here. That way we could get a few more people to attend.

The October shop tour date hasn’t been set yet and I need some suggestions for demo’s. If there is anyone that would like to show the group a different way of doing things, please let me know. If there are any demo’s that some one would like to see, also let me know. It is hard to figure out what to do without a bit of input. Whether you are able to make the meeting or not, some times we video the demos so you can look at them later. They are $10.00 ea and some of them have several demos on on CD.

Ray Kirk

www.rakerknives.com

KGA Sec/Treas

A chance of success exists when you try,

Failure is a sure thing when you quit.